The PM has sold out the BBC

[Burnshersmurfs]

AIBU to suspect that the agreed price of certain newspapers dropping the front page stories about partygate is the recent announcement that the licence fee for the BBC is being abolished?

Not against new ways of funding BBC but the only reason its become a story now is because of Bojo's problems, much like the Ms Lee spy story, which turned out to be no such thing, she broke no laws, so is innocent.
Now we have the "Royal Navy will stop migrants crossing the channel" where as the reality is they will at best "co ordinate"

These are all policies designed to either smear the opposition or appeal to Tory newspapers, plus selling off the BBC will be done to a rightwing supporting business, much like they will do with CH4.

@CarlatheJackal

I really resent risking being forced to pay for channels I never, ever watch, or risk being imprisoned.

I don't know any other country with such a ridiculous set-up.

Actually Germany has a very similar setup. Most of the content is in a language that I personally don't completely understand (my grasp of German is moderate but certainly not good enough to enjoy most of the programmes shown), nonetheless, I still have to pay.

When I was in the UK I'd pretty much given up on the BBC as i found it far too right wing and pro-Brexit. I'm centre-left however, so, as other posters also point out, it probably was finding some sort of balance in increasingly polarized times.

It’s time to look at the bigger picture, dumbing down the populace to control it. Make education a memory test, get rid of any media that provides debate rather than click bait, make protest illegal and hand control to those few who put billions and greed over the needs of millions. It’s not lizard headed aliens, it’s wizened Australian media magnates and his like Tharp we need to be worried about.

That

...i'd add that Bojo has to win the next GE for this to happen (current agreement is until 2027....) so it really is a announcement that did not need to be made now did it?

Once again. manipulated by the powerful.

There are many rubbish 'filler' programmes on the BBC and just a few gems (usually involving David Attenborough).

@TheWhalrus never knew Germany did this, too.

@lightand

Both left and right think the bbc is a puppet of the other side, so it’s probably doing ok.

For me, it used to debate both sides of something. It no longer does this.
It presents its own slant on things. Which political way I woudlnt say for 100%.
But that for me is the point really. It should take into account all sides. But it doesnt. It presents it's own view or slant. It shouldnt. It didnt used to and should go back to presenting facts, and then have all sides of discussions, and let viewers come to their own conclusions. Not the conclusions of the BBC.

Spot on. I fumed at the coverage around the last election being so conservative biased. Since then the promotion of dangerous ideas about gender ideology has left me fuming. It's not about left or right, after all, the leftwing parties have all swayed so far to the left they've somehow managed to land themselves back to gender stereotypes and misogyny.

Cancelled ours a while ago. It's a lot of money saved and no biased British broadcasting for us anymore. Win:win
#nothankyou

This is not a sudden decision. Groups have been campaigning for years against the forced purchase of TV licence an the threat of jail for non payment. I've heard it costs more for the pursual of non payers than the actual loss of revenue to the Beeb. People should not be forced to pay for something they don't use.
And to add insult to injury being lectured by smug metropolitan lefties telling us what to think
No thanks

Why are women being disproportionately penalised for non payment of the TV licence fee

@LouiseBelchersBunnyEars

Good, long time coming if you ask me. To think, people have been put in prison for not wanting to pay for the BBC and their ‘unbiased’ opinions, it’s a fucking disgrace

I agree.

@Postchristmasflab

I think the bbc has had its day, most of the decent content is now sold on to other platforms, like Netflix or even YouTube.

Bbc news is definitely getting more tabloid like, I actually use sky news more often now, I also think the bbc largely copies skys content anyway, but changes the headlines, a story will break in the sky news app first and appear on bbc news 5 mins later. I live in the north and find the BBC very London and the south focused news wise, I see shocking things in my local news papers that never make it to the BBC, while they are running stories about cycle lanes or pigeons in London or what ever. I live in a large northern city and the local news page for my area sometimes isn’t updated for days. Unless it’s sports.

I actually think “partygate” has been over done by the bbc too, I don’t know anyone in real life who is that bothered about it all, probably because unless people where working from home, the same was happening in many workplaces just not as posh. Wine Fridays would be biscuit and beer fridays in most of my friends and families workplaces.

I think you are very wrong to believe that the same was happening in lots of other workplaces and that people aren't that bothered. Most people I know from across a range of the political spectrum are angry about what went on and the idea that you could just nip to round the back of the office for drinks in May 2020 would be utterly preposterous for those businesses that had staff on the premises.

Although I suspect you know that and that is your political allegiance talking. The government's reaction in chucking out all these stories and announcements tells you that they know it is serious. I guess that is also why there are so many posters like you on this site trying to gaslight the rest of us into thinking it is all an overblown storm in a tea cup.

Germany's got a mandatory public service broadcasting charge. I think we pay 56 euro per quarter. And German TV is, with occasional solitary exceptions, unimaginably dire. Good radio, though, albeit nothing anywhere near the calibre of R4.

@sst1234

Yes it’s a dead cat. Except the cat committed suicide when it went from being a treasured broadcaster with global soft power to a biased, self serving, left wing, woke culture warrior. The BBC out itself at the front of the queue for dead cat duties.

Yep pretty much.

@Georgeskitchen

This is not a sudden decision. Groups have been campaigning for years against the forced purchase of TV licence an the threat of jail for non payment. I've heard it costs more for the pursual of non payers than the actual loss of revenue to the Beeb. People should not be forced to pay for something they don't use. And to add insult to injury being lectured by smug metropolitan lefties telling us what to think No thanks

We all have to pay council tax, regardless of whether you get all the services a city dweller might get....

and to add insult to injury, i m being lectured by a smug metropolitan rightwing bully telling me what to think.
No thanks.

@WeWashEverythingExceptLaundry

Germany's got a mandatory public service broadcasting charge. I think we pay 56 euro per quarter. And German TV is, with occasional solitary exceptions, unimaginably dire. Good radio, though, albeit nothing anywhere near the calibre of R4.

Yep at £13 per household, the licence fee is an absolute bargain....

I was a big fan of the BBC but the fact that GB News covers the current threats to women’s rights much more than they do means I can’t support it in the way I used to.

@Alexandra2001 care to offer a defence of why women are so disproportionately pursued for prosecution by the BBC with the muscle of the state behind them?

Or are you just happy they fill their prisons nicely with vulnerable women?

Regardless on your views on the BBC, this is smoke and mirrors. Johnson needs to resign for his personal and governments continuous and utterly shameful lawbreaking at a time of national crisis (not to mention being totally unfit to lead this country by any imaginable benchmark). And we need a general election.

Here we go again!

The licence fee is not being abolished!

I’m no fan of the BBC but this shameful PM and government - currently at under 30% in the polls, has no democratic mandate to be making a decision of such cultural magnitude which will impact this country’s media landscape for generations to come.

Agree the BBC is good value for money & multiple studies have shown the coverage is not politically biased.

The fact people still think it is shows how powerful the RW media is.
I can’t believe we still have a buffoon as PM and people can’t see through these kind of stupid and damaging announcements, which are only done to distract from the huge failures of government that we are living through.

"If the NHS is so wonderful, people will pay a subscription to use it."

I mean if you make the argument for one public service, surely it works for all?

What do you think we pay tax and NI for? The NHS is a subscription service. The NHS is free at the point of service, but it has never been free per se. No public service in this country is free. We recognise that certain services are vital, even if we don't use them, because they serve the country as a whole and assist the smooth running of it. Whist there is an argument to support the funding of a state broadcaster - newsworthy events being reported without fear or favour being a good thing - the rest of the BBC output contains nothing that should be compulsorily funded for the public good.

Let's not forget, C4 is publicly owned (albeit commercially funded), and therefore, their news output also should be objective and fair to all political sides. It is decidedly not so.

All this government has to offer is gutter populism and endless cuts to public services.

[quote WorriedMumsDontSleep]@Alexandra2001 care to offer a defence of why women are so disproportionately pursued for prosecution by the BBC with the muscle of the state behind them?

Or are you just happy they fill their prisons nicely with vulnerable women?[/quote]
BBC don't make the law or have any control on the justice system.

The Govt, with a large majority can change this but won't (they actually ducked the decision in 2020) instead, they made the BBC an arm of the benefits system, charged with deciding who should get a free licence or not.